How can the City further encourage smaller-scale, incremental redevelopment in our neighborhoods?

The City should make it easier for smaller developers to complete their projects (incentives, cash investment, reduce red tape within City Hall).

In the 1940 city limits, we have half the population we used to have. Do you believe repopulating the urban core is a critical priority?

Yes.

Many developers planning to offer affordable housing are experiencing financial gaps in their capital stack, hindering their ability to proceed with construction. Kansas City has built the Affordable Housing Trust Fund to help close this gap. Does the fund adequately address developers’ concerns? If not, how would you address this issue?

In my experience, a completely RFP process (instead of including planned projects that address a shared vision) has created issues. We are operating at the whim of the developers ideas, rather than directing traffic, so to speak. At least this is true in the 3rd. I think it is important to support creative ideas that serve a need through an RFP process, but I’d also like to see more proactive measures that create opportunities for specific types of development to happen in places where it needs to occur. We could, for example, identify 7-10 catalytic projects that we want to happen and invest in them. This will ensure we have synergy – and recognizable progress – while supporting smaller projects that compliment anchor type projects. Connectivity of projects, large and small, is also very important so that people can SEE progress with their own eyes.

How do you believe the affordable housing set-aside standards have impacted new housing development? How would you increase affordable housing in Kansas City?

I am not entirely sure how the set aside has impacted new housing development because in my district I have been able to facilitate economic development projects despite it. I understand it has caused issues among some developers so I would look to them to explain how and possible remedies. I would increase affordable housing by investing in projects. The city has at least three funds with cash but only one revolves. We should use all three in any affordable housing project that comes forward (that has a reasonable chance of happening and meets the goals of the funding source). There simply is no way to build affordable housing at present without city investment, both cash and tax incentives. Everyone should just accept this and I think most understand this fact. I think there are organizations that do affordable housing well as a matter of mission and skill. And we should help them scale up, instead of trying to compel companies that are not in that space to do it.

Transit-oriented community (TOC) projects create compact, walkable, pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use communities centered around high-quality transit systems. This development approach alleviates concerns your constituents may have about accessing services and the cost of living. How would you promote and support providing transit-oriented community developments to Kansas City residents?

By facilitating the creation of diverse housing options near transit nodes and also attracting businesses to those areas.

Crime is affecting Kansas City’s reputation on a national scale. While violent crime makes the headlines, an increase in property crime is impacting our residents and businesses. What are some specific and measurable ways with which you would address crime? (We are looking for your concrete ideas, not general positions on funding or philosophy.)

I think everyone wants an answer to this question yet no one knows that answer. I would try to protect the violence prevention funding recently allocated to the health department. I would try to protect programs like AIM for Peace and increase their capacity. I would look for ways to hold police accountable (this is currently very allusive) for completing thorough investigations of the crimes that are happening so that prosecutors are armed with enough information to complete their end of the process. I also plan to have a real youth focus. In other cities, youth are more engaged and included in the governance process (i.e. Dallas). We need to pull our young people in. They are statistically committing most of the crime so its clear they need something else to do to keep busy. To the extent that we want to offer more programming, it is important that young people are driving what that looks like because they know what will be fun and deter their peers from bad behavior. Overall, my plan is to build more housing in the 3rd (we are plagued with vacant lots), attract more small businesses because they hire locally and build the necessary coalitions to bring these ideas to life.

If elected, what issue will define your term?

Hopefully housing, economic development and collaboration. That where my passion currently lies.